Just how bad is the traffic on 78? (San Diego, Riverside: house, neighborhood)

[Jedi5]

As some of you know, I'm looking to relocate to O'Side in the coming months.
It has been suggested that I look into the San Marcos/San Elijo Hills area for homes as well.

Work will be on Oceanside BLVD.
Google maps is telling me that it would be a 25 minute to and from.
Does that sound about right?

I've read so many things about traffic that I'm thinking I should maybe double my commute time.
At peak times, will traffic really be a nightmare?

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by Jedi5

At peak times, will traffic really be a nightmare?

Yes. Massive numbers of tract homes + job centers 40 miles away + 40 year-old freeway infrastructure = clusterf@#$k

[Jedi5]

Cripes.
I'm the sure the small sides will be just as bad.
Turd.

[Sassberto]

given that you are only going to O'side it shouldn't be as bad as it is for people doing the 5 or 15 commutes. I would consider an alternate route if possible too. There are wrecks every single day on the 78, it's almost a joke.

[Fullback]

Friends don't let friends drive the 78. seriously is the scariest place in San Diego to drive. you will be cut off, tail gated and nearly nudged off the road by every pent up, hostile SOB that ever got behind a wheel. I commuted the 78 from Vista to Carlsbad daily for several years and I am lucky to be here right now writing this...seriously consider moving to Oceanside or Vista and then take surface streets to Oceanside BLVD (you'd actually be going against the tide, so the drive would not be unpleasant).

[Jedi5]

Not being from or knowing anything about the area, I really appreciate all the help everyone is giving and suggesting.

I've been told to look at San Marcos/San Elijo Hills area... really nice homes.
They forgot to include what my commute would be though.

I think I should have a realtor by the end of the month.
Hopefully she will be able to answer some of my questions as well.

Thanks again.

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by Jedi5

I've been told to look at San Marcos/San Elijo Hills area... really nice homes.
They forgot to include what my commute would be though.

If you are going to live in North County San Diego you are going to deal with traffic. It is just a fact of life up there and it's not going away. The 5 between Del Mar and O-side has gotten as bad as LA-style traffic jams 7 days a week... even saturdays and sundays. The 15 is just as bad on weekdays. On fridays I see solid bumper-to-bumper traffic from the 52 to Temecula!

78 and 56 are the only east-west arteries to the interstate and all the jobs are to the south. Traffic just gets worse the further north you get. I think that traffic (and distance to jobs) is a major factor in keeping home prices down in Vista and San Marcos. The 56 corridor has good access to the job centers in Sorrento Valley, UTC, etc. and homes there are in some cases double that of the 78 corridor.

In my experience, the wide-open boulevards and freeways in north county creates a breed of hyper-aggressive, massive SUV driver that makes the whole thing that much worse. There is a multi-car wreck *every day* on the 78/15 interchange. I have been cut off at 80mph *repeatedly* on the 15 in North County... it happens all the time.

Surface streets in North County have problems too. 2-mile stretches of 4-lane road with 3-minute traffic lights inbetween. Drivers are going 80 for 2 minutes only to stop, wait, and roar off again. I have seen 5 wrecks at Scripps-Poway & Community in the past year. The communities are designed for cars, not people. The business park I work in has *no sidewalks* and people are literally racing through.

I have worked in North County for 6 years and in my opinion the traffic situation (freeway and surface streets) is so oppressive that it mitigates a huge part of the attraction of the area. I would rather put up with a shabby neighborhood than spend my life trapped in my car to just do simple trips. At my house I can walk or ride my bike to Vons to get milk for coffee. Where I work in Poway just getting lunch is an hour-long ordeal, unless you want to eat Carl's Jr. If I wanted to put up with that, I would just move to Orange County.

[Fullback]

avoid all the traffic by just finding out where you are going to be working, and then find a home/apt. nearer to that location. It is better for our environment, better fro you life expectancy and stress level, etc.

When I found out I was going to be working in Fallbrook, that would have made a near hour commute from our little place by the beach in Encinitas. I immediately started looking for a place in Fallbrook/Bonsall area. Now, though I am surrounded by avocados and citrus, can't see the ocean and can actually enter another county to go to Trader Joes more easily than one in SD County, my commute is 4 minutes on a meandering road under shady oak trees along a year-long brook. It is very peaceful. When I am done with work, literally I am home in 4 minutes to be with my own life rather than sitting breathing exhaust fumes and such. The only drawback is that if I want to go out of Fallbrook, I then deal with the weekend casino crowds on the 76, the OC/LA crowds on the 5 or the entire Riverside and Bakersfield crowd on the 15.

Having lived in SD for 35 years, I have seen exponential growth, gentrification, all the negatives and positives of which people speak (though not with such sweeping generalizations as I have read here...not this thread, but the site in general) and I still find San Diego wonderful. I am happy to raise my child here, love teaching the kids of San Diego, and despite all the crowds, find it hard to leave again.

[Jedi5]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

I would rather put up with a shabby neighborhood than spend my life trapped in my car to just do simple trips. At my house I can walk or ride my bike to Vons to get milk for coffee. Where I work in Poway just getting lunch is an hour-long ordeal, unless you want to eat Carl's Jr.

That' exactly how I feel. Maybe not a shabby neighborhood but I get what you are saying. My commute right now is at least 40+ minutes and while that might not sound like a lot to some, I hate it. And I can't stress HATE enough.
On a good day with no traffic (usually weekends or at night) that same commute takes me 15-20 minutes. But let it snow or hard rain and I am looking at an hour if not more.

Originally Posted by Fullback

my commute is 4 minutes on a meandering road under shady oak trees along a year-long brook. It is very peaceful. When I am done with work, literally I am home in 4 minutes to be with my own life rather than sitting breathing exhaust fumes and such.

I told myself that this is the kind of commute I would love. Very little time in traffic and more time at home.

Originally Posted by Fullback

avoid all the traffic by just finding out where you are going to be working, and then find a home/apt. nearer to that location.

Oh I know where I'll be working. It will be around Oceanside and College BLVD.
And while I have looked for homes in O'Side, I don't want to rule out homes in San Marcos/San Elijo Hills if I can have a 15-20 minute commute or so.

[BeenAroundTheBlock]

We are contemplating a job change to Carlsbad. With traffic the way it is, do we settle for living in Carlsbad or can we venture out to San Marcos? What communities are within a 20 mile radious would be acceptable in terms of driving and quality of life?